I've done lots of macro photography in the past. I started off outside then graduated inside using white card and a daylight bulb. Lighting is the most important thing inside. I got some great effects especially on rough surfaces like tapestry. Everyday objects take on strange appearances when magnified. It was brilliant. When I was doing this it was before the digital revolution and I used to develop my own film and prints. Extremely satisfying, a great hobby but very time consuming. Before caravanning took all my time up ! I must dig out my old prints and see if I can scan them . ......

Accurate adjustable ones, like Manfrotto 303sph ( that rotate about the nodal point) can be expensive. There are cheaper units like the Panosaurus. ...the name says it all! I tried the cheap ones and the expensive ones.

Personally I have abandoned all the pano head paraphernalia and take single overlapping shots. Ptgui software does and excellent job of stitching them together. ..even adjusting exposure differences (which occur as you pan if you don't fix your exposure settings).

On the subject of macro.

People shouldn't be put off doing macro with compact cameras. The smaller the sensor size the deeper the depth of field ( zoneof sharpness)

So compact cameras with smaller sensors ( provided they are good quality of course) are often ideal for macro work.

My friend had a tripod which allowed the centre piece to be removed and inverted. This means the camera is upside down in use but the tripod is over the top of the subject. The current screens we now use show a normal view so no problem there.

I removed the base of one I had and found it works well. Not all tripods will allow this but it is worth checking.